According to an independent security research and testing organization, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 leads the web browser industry in protecting users against malware. Microsoft’s latest version of their web browser builds on the security features and contains a robust set of built-in security and privacy technologies.
NSS Labs reported that IE9 caught an exceptional 99% of live threats, of which 95% were blocked with its SmartScreen URL Reputation, and an additional 4.8% with Application Reputation. What really makes it stand out is that other browsers are left way behind when it comes to security against malwares.
[Source: NSS Labs, August 2011 ““ Socially Engineered Malware Protection Comparative Test Results, Asia-Pacific] https://www.nsslabs.com/research/endpoint-security/browser-security/socially-engineered-malware-asia-pacific-q3-2011.html
In addition to this, the report also states, “œIE9 with SmartScreen offers the best protection of any browser against social engineered malware.”
IE9 provides the first Download Manager with integrated SmartScreen malware protection and introduces SmartScreen download reputation. SmartScreen download reputation is a groundbreaking browser feature that uses reputation data to remove unnecessary warnings for well-known files, and show more severe warnings when the download has a higher risk of being malicious. Users today are often conditioned to ignore generic warnings that are shown for every download. Other browsers show the same warning whether a file is an extremely common program or a piece of malware created literally minutes ago. IE9 is the only browser that uses download reputation to help users make safety decisions.
“œUsers are always looking for a browser that will let them explore the Web without worrying about unnecessary nuisances and Microsoft provides them with a tool that gives them just that,” said Mae Moreno, Windows Client Product Manager, Microsoft Philippines. “œWith Internet Explorer 9, users are not only equipped with a browser that will allow them to unlock the beauty of the Web, but also give them an experience that is rich, fast and secure.”